


The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie (Songfic)

by cilliance



Series: Scriddler Songfic Collection [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Bullying, Character Study, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Origin Story, Scarecrow - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 16:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17729066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cilliance/pseuds/cilliance
Summary: “Don't you know the devil wears a suit and tie…White as a cotton field and sharp as a knife…And he said, ‘I know you, I know you, young man. I know you by the state of your hands.’Oh, Foolish, foolish was I. Damn my foolish eyes,'Cause that man's lessons had a price, oh sweet price.”





	The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie (Songfic)

**Author's Note:**

> I've always preferred the idea that Jonathan Crane does NOT have some sort of personality disorder and that Scarecrow is just a persona that he puts on for the public, but the "split personality"-type thing seems to be popular. And yet, I was inspired to write a short fic that shows Jonathan meeting Scarecrow for the first time. 
> 
> Not sure how satisfied I am with it, but I hope you enjoy regardless!

Jonathan dug the spade into the dry earth. He was sweating heavily, and the back of his neck was burning in the Georgian summer sun. He was way out in the fields, digging plots and preparing for the oncoming fall, but he knew his great-granny was watching him closely from her rocking chair on the porch. Her sharp gaze burned into the back of his head almost as hotly as the sun did. 

Jonathan’s arms ached from the exertion, and he hadn’t sat to rest in hours. He was too scared to ask Granny if he could stop -- despite being nearly about to collapse from exhaustion -- because he knew full well what the punishment would be if he did.

For a moment, Jonathan looked up and saw the heat waves radiating from the earth. It seemed to blur the horizon. There was an old scarecrow that stood guard over the family land, looking out over the corn. It had become the focus of the taunts from Jonathan’s bullies. As long as he could remember, Jonathan had felt fearful of it, and now, Jonathan thought he saw it move. His heartbeat stuttered for a moment before he shook it off as being a symptom of the heat. 

Jonathan worked from the morning until the sun went down. He wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night because Granny hadn’t given him the chance to study and do his homework. After cleaning himself up and having supper, Jonathan was finally able to seal himself up in his room.

Long after Granny had gone to bed, Jonathan was still at his desk reading. He finally decided to close the book only when the words began to blur together. Leaning back in his chair, Jonathan closed his eyes for a moment.

“That old crone don’t treat you right, child,” a deep voice said. Jonathan shot up suddenly and looked behind him. The voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. 

“She works ya to the bone, then beats out whatever life is left,” it growled. Jonathan’s heart was pounding. He was still looking into the dark corners of his room, trying to find something that wasn’t there. 

“Who’s there?” Jonathan whispered. 

“A friend, child,” the voice soothed, “I’m here to protect you.” 

“What… are you?” Jonathan asked, his voice shaking. 

“As I said, a friend. That’s all that matters,” it replied. 

Jonathan brought his fingers to his temples as he realized the voice must be inside his head. It would certainly explain a lot. He ran a hand through his hair. 

“I’m goin’ crazy,” Jonathan muttered. He shook his head, almost like he hoped to knock the voice out like a coin in a bottle. 

_ “YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!”  _ the voice suddenly thundered. “ _ Granny is crazy! Those bullies are crazy! The only sane person in this whole damned town is you, Jonathan-- _ ” 

Jonathan hissed and brought his hands to his ears as the voice screamed and ranted in his mind. “ _ Shh! _ ” he begged, for a moment forgetting that he was the only one who could hear the voice. Thankfully, the voice listened, anyway. 

“They call ya Scarecrow, and you hate it. Don’t ya, boy?” 

Jonathan brought his hands back down and gave a small nod, looking down at the floor. 

“Now we’re gonna take that name back, ya hear me? We’ll make ‘em regret those words.  _ We WILL show them fear! _ ” the voice said. 

“What’s the scarecrow got to do with it?” Jonathan asked, confused. 

The voice laughed. “We’re gonna scare the life outta those birdbrains,  _ that’s  _ what it’s got to do with it!”

Jonathan was still very confused. 

“Take back what’s yours, child,” the voice drawled. “If they want you to be a scarecrow so bad, then become  _ the Scarecrow. _ ”

“I don’t… like that idea,” Jonathan said. Even the reminder of his bullies’ taunts caused tears to prick his eyes. He didn’t want to be called Scarecrow. 

“No…  _ you  _ are Jonathan, child.  _ I am the Scarecrow.  _ And I’m gonna help you teach ‘em all a lesson they’ll never forget.” the voice… the Scarecrow… insisted. “Like the scarecrow watches over the crops, I will watch over you, and keep you safe.” 

“I know you, child,” he continued, “Better then you know yerself. Let me guide you.”

And for once, without explanation, Jonathan found himself willing to accept someone into his life. He found that his mind began to relax, and for the first time, he felt some semblance of contentment. He felt protected. Jonathan finally had his own guardian angel. 

 

And it was going to make every person in his life  _ pay.  _

 

Jonathan felt himself grin. 


End file.
